


Easy Way Out

by hellolife21



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Overdosing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 22:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellolife21/pseuds/hellolife21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen Ackles has lost everything he ever loved. Jared Padalecki is just some kid Jensen beat up behind the school for money. But Jared is going to save Jensen's life, whether he likes it or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easy Way Out

**Author's Note:**

> No Character Death. Promise.

Jared meets Jensen for the first time on a Monday. It’s not under the best circumstances. Jensen is punching him in the face while he holds him up against a dumpster behind the school. Jared wasn’t even sure how this happened. One minute he was cutting through the alley behind the school and the next he was slammed against the blue and black dumpster, Jensen in his face.

  
“Give me your lunch money!” Jensen yells hitting Jared for a fifth time.

  
That’s what he wanted? His lunch money? Jared laughed internally, though nothing about this situation was all the funny. He just couldn’t believe people still actually got beat up for their lunch money. Kinda seemed like a grade school thing to do, not something a senior in high school did. None the less, here Jared was, pinned down by Jensen, getting his face beaten in over his lunch money.

  
Jared doesn’t try to fight Jensen off. He has every advantage, height, weight, two years of karate classes. Jared just isn’t confrontational, and if Jensen had just outright said, “give me your lunch money’, before punching him a few times, Jared would have happily handed it over. Jared reaches into his pocket and shoves all of his five dollars for lunch at Jensen’s stomach.

  
Jensen backs up and stares at Jared’s hand full of wrinkled bills like it’s a pile of organs or something. He isn’t sure what to do. Take it and run? Take it and apologize? This was the first time Jensen ever hit anyone, every tried to mug someone, and the guy didn’t even fight back, he was just handing him his money. “What the fuck?” Jensen asks looking from the money to Jared’s face that was beginning to bruise.

  
“Take it, I don’t need it anyway,” Jared says calmly moving his hand a little closer to Jensen.

  
“I don’t get it.”

  
Jared manages a small smile through the pain in his right cheek. This is just a little bit funny, in a sad twisted way. “You asked for my money, take it.”

  
“Why? Why are you giving it to me?” Jensen asks. He knows he asked for it, but come on, this is too easy! Why would someone just willingly give up their cash? There had to be some catch or something.

  
Jared puts the money back in his pocket and says, “You’re Jensen Ackles, right?”

  
“Yeah, what of it?”

  
“I’m sorry about what happened to your parents,” Jared says quietly, picking up his backpack off the ground and brushing it off.

  
“Don’t fucking talk about them! Sorry isn’t going to bring them back!”

  
“Come home with me,” Jared offers stuffing his hands in his pockets.

  
Jensen screws up his face into a scowl, “What?”

  
“I said, come home with me. I’ll get us something to eat.” Jared doesn’t know why he’s saying this. It’s sort of just coming out. He knows that Jensen probably trying to get money from him for food. It was just him and his older brother, Josh, living down off of 17th, in the slum housing development where Josh was living before the accident. Through his parents, Jared had found out Alan and Donna Ackles died in a plane crash on their way back from Alan’s father’s funeral almost three months ago. Jensen missed almost a month of school before he just showed up one day, looking skinnier than anyone his height and age ever should. His eyes looked dead, and he didn’t do any of the work assigned to him. Jared only knows this because he has four out of eight classes with Jensen. Jensen doesn’t even seem alive most of the time. His eyes are open, and he’s breathing, but there’s nothing there.

  
“Why?” Jensen demands looking skeptically at a dog that passes by on the main street. Jensen looks scared and broken and he seems to twitch at every little sound.

  
“Because I wanna help.”

  
“I just beat your face in, and you wanna help me? You’re a freak.” Jensen turns an runs down the alley. Jared just watches him run and doesn’t try to call out to him.

 

~~~

 

Friday. Jared looks at Jensen differently. He doesn’t just see the guy who lost his parents and is in four of his classes. He doesn’t just see his dead stare from the back of the classrooms. He doesn’t even think of Jensen as the guy that beat his face in for his lunch money. Jared just looks at Jensen and takes note of several things. Jensen has worn the same pair of jeans everyday so far this week. He’s worn the Led Zeppelin shirt twice and on the other days he just wore a white shirt. He’s worn the same black zip up hoodie with the holes in the sleeves everyday. The holes are from when he chews nervously and stares at the clock during last period. Sometimes Jensen has his sleeves pushed up and that’s when Jared can see the leather bracelet that snaps around his wrist. There’s also a red and yellow cord that almost looks like a bungee cord, it’s wrapped around his wrist twice and connects with a silver clasp. He has a watch too, but it went missing on Thursday when he pushed his sleeves up again.

  
Jared doesn’t worry about Jensen seeing him watching him. Jensen is always absorbed in something else. His favorite thing to do is make trivial puzzle like designs on the hand out sheets from the teachers. Jared passed him once on the way to the bathroom and looked for a moment. They were just simple L shaped lines that interlinked, but it looked complicated.

  
At lunch Jared scans the cafeteria for Jensen. He always sees him in the same place everyday. He’s perched, legs pulled up against his chest, sitting on a stone bench close to the exit doors. He never has food with him and he is always left alone by the other students. Even the teachers and staff have given up on trying to get through to him. Councilors had finally given up on Tuesday, after two months of trying to get Jensen to talk to them.

  
Jared passes by the table of kids he usually eats with. He doesn’t call them his friends, they are just people he had classes with and shared a few similar interests with. Jared was kind of a loner, he wasn’t anti social, he just really liked being alone most of the time. He fades into the background easily, and that’s how he likes it. So when he passes up his peers and keeps crossing the cafeteria to go to Jensen, everyone falls sort of quiet. Chatter doesn’t cease completely, but there is enough people watching Jared walk into what seems to be forbidden territory, for the room to see almost silent.

  
Jensen looks up at the silence and Jared’s coming at him. That guy who is a freak and he beat his face in. What does he want? Jensen holds his gaze on Jared, his face betrays no emotion and his jaw is set. Jared sits down across from him and he doesn’t say anything. He just sets down an extra tray of lunch in the middle of the bench then goes about eating his own food.

  
“What are you doing?” Jensen snarls.

  
Jared doesn’t look over a him when he speaks, “It’s lunch.”

  
“I’m not hungry.”

  
“You’re lying.”

  
Jensen snorts and focuses on his tattered jacket sleeve. He picks at it a while. Jared finishes his food and tosses the try away. Jensen takes notice that the security guards and lunch staff are watching them very closely. As if Jensen is a time bomb just waiting to go off and Jared is in the line of fire.  
“Please eat,” Jared says pushing the tray a little closer to Jensen.

  
Jensen comes to the conclusion that Jared won’t leave unless he eats something on the plate. He can’t figure out why the hell Jared gives a shit. He beat him up and he was being nice to him. Something wasn’t right in Jared’s head, or so Jensen thought. He extended his arm and took the roll sitting closest to him on the tray. Lunch was mashed potatoes with gravy, breaded beef tenderloin and a roll. Juice and Milk came along with it.

  
Jared smiled wide as he watched Jensen from under his bangs. He picked at the roll and popped pieces into his mouth. The roll was gone in only about a minute. Jensen reached out and took the tray on to his lap as he extended his legs out the length of the bench. His feet lightly brushed Jared’s thigh. They didn’t say anything else to each other. No thank you or you’re welcome. The lunch bell rang and they went their separate ways.

 

~~~

 

Jared thought about Jensen all weekend. He mulled over every bit of information he’d collected, playing it over and over in his head. He couldn’t think of a single reason why he had to help Jensen. He just felt compelled to, like if he didn’t, something horrible would happen. Jared knew this thought was silly, he didn’t really know anything that was going on in Jensen’s life. He didn’t know how he felt, but alone was probably a safe word to use. Jared didn’t want Jensen to feel alone. Maybe that’s why he was doing this, helping. Maybe Jared was just too nice and didn’t like to see someone suffering. Was Jensen suffering?

  
Jared went through his old clothes on Sunday afternoon. He grabbed anything that was too small for him and put them in a plastic bag along with a pair of his old sneakers he grew out of last summer. They were still in great condition, Jared had just grown so fast he didn’t get to wear them for very long. He didn’t know if Jensen would accept this gift, or charity, or whatever it was. Jared just wanted to help.

  
He gets on his bike and pedals to the address that the phone book had listed for Josh Ackles on 17th St. When Jared gets there he sees that there’s no car in the driveway, but that doesn’t mean nobody is home. He waits for a few minutes and watches as a car pulls up and Jensen get out of the passenger seat. He goes into the house and comes back out, a tool in his hands. Jensen gets back in the car and they drive away.

  
Jared takes this chance to leave the clothes and some cookies on the steps of the run down yellow house. He doesn’t leave a note or anything, just the bag, and pedals home.

 

~~~

 

Monday. Jared sits in his second period English class, the bell is about to ring and Jensen hasn’t come in yet. Just as the bell starts to ring the door is flung open ferociously and Jensen tumbles in. Mr. Hanley gives a slight scowl but goes back to writing the assignment on the board for the day. They will be reading the second Act of Othello and making character charts. It’s simple enough work, but considering it’s Shakespeare, it will take the whole class period.

  
Jared doesn’t care about the assignment though. He can do it at home later. What he cares about it that Jensen is wearing his jeans and his green NIRVANA shirt. Some of the clothes Jared gave him. Jared is so happy he could almost cry.

  
“I’m putting you in groups for this assignment,” Mr. Hanley announces.

  
Groups. Jared hates groups. If Mr. Hanley assigns them, then he’ll definitely be stuck with someone he doesn’t like or doesn’t want to work with. If the students are allowed to choose their own groups, well, Jared could probably get away with working alone. Unless he could work with Jensen, that would be okay. That would be more than okay.

  
“Get together in groups of three, there will be one group of two.”

  
Students scuffle around and shift desks, claim chairs and bicker and laugh and after a minute or so, Jared is sitting alone at his desk, and so is Jensen. Mr. Hanley goes around the room, taking groups in account when he stops and looked between Jared and Jensen.

  
“Who is your partner, Jared?” he asks, pencil ready to write on his clipboard.

  
“I don’t have one,” Jared says calmly.

  
The teacher nods and points to Jensen, “You can be Mr. Ackles’s partner. Move back to share the desk with him.”

  
Jared picks up his stuff and moves back to Jensen’s table to sit. He pulls out his book and opens to Act two. He knows full well that Jensen won’t do the assignment, probably won’t even talk to him. So Jared doesn’t even try, he just starts reading but not paying attention to the words. He can’t. Jensen has shifted his chair a little closer and Jared can feel him looking over his shoulder. There’s a small tick tick noise that he knows Jensen is making by chewing and pulling at the sleeve of his jacket with his teeth.

  
“Do you want to share?” Jared asks looking at Jensen.

  
Jensen looks like a deer in the headlight for a moment. As if he was stunned to have been caught staring by Jared. He looks so vulnerable and scared for just a moment. Then his expression changes to a scowl, the look he always has on his face when people talk to him. This look tells Jared ‘keep talking to me and I’ll rip your throat out.’

  
Jared looks away and goes back to his book. Soon enough Jensen is looking over his shoulder again, chewing his sleeve. Jared lets him go on this time, but he can focus and after he’s read the same line twelve times he turns to Jensen once more. But Jensen speaks before he can.

  
“Why’d you leave me clothes on my doorstep?” he asks.

  
Jared let a smile play at the corner of his mouth. Jensen knew, even with out a note, he knew it was Jared who left things for him. “I wanted to help.”

  
“Well stop it. I’m fine.”

  
“Okay,” Jared says nodding a little.

 

~~~

 

Wednesday. Jensen was gone Tuesday, didn’t show up for any of his classes with Jared. Wednesday is the same, and Jared’s gotten worried. He fears that something has happened. When he goes home after school he overhears his mother talking on the phone in the kitchen.

  
“Josh Ackles?” she asks.

  
Jared is standing outside his bedroom door, just close enough to hear.

  
“Oh my god, that’s horrible. How is the other one, Jensen?”

  
“No,” Jared whispers covering his mouth. Hot tears prickle the corners of his eyes but he doesn’t know why. Jensen isn’t his friend, isn’t even his problem. He doesn’t know what has happened, or if Jensen’s okay. Something about it is still upsetting.

  
“Does he know about his brother? They can’t find him? Oh, god, that is terrible. I’ll find out if Jared knows anything, but I doubt he will. Alright, thanks for calling Anne, bye bye.”

  
Jared walks into the kitchen, trying to look as natural as possible.

  
“I just got off the phone with Anne, the Ackles’s neighbor. She says Josh was in drunk driving accident and he is dead.”

  
“And Jensen?” Jared blurts out.

  
His mother cocks her eyebrow at that. “He knows what happened, but he fled the house when cops came by and told him. Went running off down the street according to Anne. Do you know anything?”

  
“No,” Jared says quietly, looking down to his feet and he holds on to the tears he wants to let slip out. Jensen is fine, at least, he should be. He can’t even imagine what Jensen is feeling right now.

  
Sherri moves past her son with a concerned look, someone is knocking at the front door. Moments later Sherri is calling for Jared to come to the door. Jared furrows his brow, wondering who the hell would be at the door for him. He walks into the living room and his mother steps away from the front door and there’s Jensen.

 

~~~

 

Jensen’s wet. It was raining earlier on when Jared had gotten home. Jensen’s green eyes stand out behind red rimmed eyelids and flushed cheeks. He’s been crying. Jensen’s breath comes out in ragged gasps. He’s been running. Sherri looks between the boys, confused. Jared guess she doesn’t know who this is at the door, but that doesn’t surprise him. His parents only knew the Ackles and their children through other people, and it wasn’t likely that his mother had ever actually see Josh or Jensen.

  
There’s only a moment of hesitation before Jensen is running the five feet between himself and Jared. He slams into Jared with a wrecked sob and clings to him, arms wrapped under Jared’s and holding onto his shoulders for support.

  
Jared doesn’t know what to say or do. This is Jensen, the guy who he hardly knows, the guy who beat his face in and acts like he hates him. Jared thinks he should be happy that Jensen came to him, happy that he has helped somehow, he should feel a lot of things, but only one emotion escapes him. And that is confusion. Why did Jensen come to him? 

  
Sherri closes the door softly and gives Jared a look that says, ‘I’ll leave you two be, talk to me when you’re ready’. She leaves the small living room, and Jared stands there by the door, arms wrapped around Jensen in a hug, holding him up as he begins to lose the ability to stand. Jared sinks down to his knees as Jensen does the same. They stay like this for several minutes.

  
“Josh is dead,” is the first thing Jensen says.

  
“I know,” Jared whispers, pulling away from Jensen to look at him.

  
He wipes at his eyes with the backs of his hands like a small child. Jared can’t help but think it’s kind of adorable. “I-I didn’t know where else to go.”

  
“Oh. It's okay. How did you know where I lived?”

  
Jensen sinks back to sit on his heels, “I drove by with Josh the other day and you were outside playing with some dogs. I just thought you lived here.”

  
“Well I do,” Jared smiles tenderly.

  
Jensen lets out a nervous laugh like huff of air and picks at his sleeves. He’s still completely soaked, and Jared’s front is too. “I’m sorry about the carpet,” he says touching a small wet spot and a shoe print from his sneakers.

  
Jared stands and offers his hand up for Jensen, “It’s okay. The dogs have made it look worse.”

  
Jensen takes the hand and is hauled up easily. He’s almost pulled into Jared’s chest but steps back a little. Jensen looks awkward and scared. He looks like he expecting Jared to yell at him over the carpet or kick him out. Neither of those things happens and Jared reaches out for Jensen’s jacket and peels it away from his body. Jensen just lets him as he toes out of his shoes.

 

~~~

 

Friday. Jensen talks to Jared now. Sits with him at lunch, eats what Jared brings him for lunch. He still doesn’t do class work, or talk to the teachers and staff. Jensen likes to tell Jared stories about himself, or his brother. It’s only been two days since the car accident and Jared has learned so much about Jensen.  
His favorite color is blue. His favorite ice cream is the Peppermint Surprise that’s only available at Christmas time. He used to collect rocks and bottle caps when he was younger. His favorite book is The Secret Life of Bees. Jared couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that one, considering Secret Life of Bees is such a sappy book. Jensen likes to play videos games like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space. He eats as much as Jared. Jensen seems a little happier, and Jared thinks, now that he is in the picture, everything is a little easier.

  
They hang out all weekend, and Jensen sleeps over. Jared learns that Josh was Jensen’s only family left and the rest were dead or had cut ties years ago. Jensen has a little money from when his parents died, and almost none from Josh. Most of it goes to funeral costs.

 

~~~

 

Monday, Jared attends Josh’s funeral with his family. A few of Josh’s friends show up as well and the service is very short. Jensen becomes quiet again after the funeral. He doesn’t talk to Jared much for three days, and he seems even more distant than before Jared was even friends with him.

 

~~~

 

Friday, ten days after Josh died and four after the funeral, Jensen doesn’t show up for school. Jared calls Jensen’s house during first period, but there is no answer. He leaves messages on the machine. End of second period rolls around and Jared is calling again. Still no answer. Jared skips lunch and leaves school. It’s against the rules to leave without a pass or early out class ID. He doesn’t care. Something tells him that something is horribly wrong.  
Jared runs faster than he ever has in his life. He feels like if he stops for just a second it will be too late. Too late for what, he doesn’t know, but he cannot stop. His legs are burning and his heart threatens to jump from his chest when he reaches Jensen’s house on 17th St.

  
Jared bangs on the door relentlessly. Nobody comes to answer it. He tries the handle, it’s unlocked. “Jensen!?” he yells wandering around the unfamiliar house.  
He passes by the bathroom and the door is closed, but the light shines out from underneath it. He tries the handle but it’s locked from the inside. “Jensen!?” he yells, praying maybe his friend just fell asleep on the toilet or something. It happened to him once.

  
There is no noise from the other side of the door and Jared slams his shoulder into it as hard as he can. The door breaks at the lock and swings open.  
Jensen is there, fully clothed, sunken halfway down in the tub, passed out. Jared’s eyes widen and he can’t stop himself, he gets sick in the toilet nearby. He scrambles to get Jensen from the tub, but fails. He slides in behind him, soaking his clothes through with the freezing water. Jared puts his hand to Jensen’s chest, then to his mouth. He is still breathing.

  
“Jensen!?”

  
Jared’s calling out to Jensen, and he hears him, but it sounds so far away. He can’t be more than a few feet away. What happened? Oh, right, he passed out. Why did he pass out again? Oh yeah, the pain pills.

  
“Jen! Jen, please, come on.”

  
Jared’s holding him now. He can feel his back against something warm, must be Jared. Jared’s arm is circled around his waist, holding him up. Jensen feels wet, and cold as Jared hefts him up. Why is he wet? The tub of water, right. He was trying to drown himself too in case the pills didn’t work.

  
Jensen opens his eyes slightly. The light over the sink is blinding and the water is cold, so cold. But Jared, he’s so warm and he’s pushed against him. Jared’s talking again but nothing makes sense, the room is spinning. Jensen can feel Jared’s chest tremble and shake. He’s crying.

  
“What did you do?!” Jared’s yelling over and over, cradling Jensen upright against him.

  
“Pills,” Jensen whispers hoarsely, finding it very hard to speak.

  
Then Jared’s fingers are in Jensen’s mouth, down his throat, and he’s gagging. God, it’s so unpleasant. This sick feeling churning in his stomach and then it’s out. He throwing up over the side of the tub where Jared has maneuvered him. It just keeps coming out until he’s crying and it hurts.

  
It’s all over Jared’s hand, but he doesn’t care. Jensen’s finished and Jared reaches for a nearby towel to wipe his hand and Jensen’s mouth. They’re still in the freezing water of the tub. Jensen is relaxed against Jared now, eyes half open, throat burning, tears falling down into the water. Jared holds him close and cries as well. He almost lost Jensen, the only person he cared anything for. His friend. Jared pushes his mouth to Jensen’s temple. “Don’t ever do this again, please. Please, don’t.”

  
Jensen shifts his gaze to Jared and his voice hardly comes out as a whisper, “I’m sorry.”

  
“I love you, please don‘t do this, don‘t die, ” Jared sobs out kissing Jensen’s temple again and again. He can’t believe that he said I love you. It just came out, and he meant it. Before he can think it over anymore Jensen turns his head a little, so that he’s looking at Jared, and he kisses him. There’s no effort or push to his lips. He doesn’t have the strength. Jensen just pushes his mouth against Jared’s.

  
Jared is stunned. Jensen is kissing him and it feels so right. Never mind the fact that Jensen just threw up and Jared only minutes before, that didn’t matter to Jared. Gross, sick, whatever, it just didn’t fucking matter. Because Jensen was kissing him and he was alive and not dead. And Jared had never kissed anyone before, let alone a guy, but he didn’t care. There was no momentary gay crisis because it didn’t matter and this felt right.

  
“Let’s get you out of the tub,” Jared says sitting Jensen up and crawling out of the water. He wipes the sick on the floor away with a towel and hauls Jensen up the best he can. He half carries half drags Jensen to his bedroom across the hall and begins to strip him down.

  
Jensen is slightly more alert now that the drugs are mostly out of his system. He’s still dizzy and feels a little sick. Jared has him stripped down to his boxers and is stripping himself down to as much. Their wet clothes sit by the doorway and Jensen comes to the realization that he can’t move. It’s too hard to. “Jared?” he croaks.

  
Jared’s eyes lock with Jensen’s instantly and he moves closer so he can hear him better. “What is it?”

  
“Can you help me?”

  
Jared smiles nervously, “I think I already am.”

  
“No. My boxers. Wet.”

  
“I-I know,” Jared says quietly, eyes flicking down to the last piece of clothing Jensen is wearing.

  
Jensen puts on this helpless look, because that what he basically is, helpless. He doesn’t want to go to sleep with wet boxers on and soak the blankets. But in order for that not to happen, Jared has to help him. Jared has to see him completely naked and put boxers on him.

  
“Jensen, I don’t think I can do that,” Jared says flushing red all over.

  
“Please,” Jensen begs softly.

  
Jared sucks in a breath. He can’t say no to Jensen when he’s begging like this. Now Jared is having a small gay crisis. He’s just helping Jensen, right? It’s harmless, and Jensen probably won’t remember, but Jared will. Jensen probably won’t even remember the kiss in the tub. This could all be happening because of the drugs. Jared loops his fingers into the waistband of Jensen’s boxers, closes his eyes and pulls them down and off.

  
He digs through a drawer and pulls out a pair for himself and for Jensen. He takes his own wet ones off and puts on a dry pair. Then he moves across the room to Jensen and closes his eyes, pulling Jensen’s legs through the holes one at a time. He pulls them up and around Jensen’s waist without brushing against anything.

  
Jensen is smiling lazily when Jared opens his eyes again. “Thanks,” he says. Jared pulls him farther up onto the bed and tucks the blankets around him. He turns to get changed into whatever clothes he can scrounge up when Jensen’s hand closes around his wrist. It’s a weak pull, but Jared falls onto the bed none the less.

  
He’s laying there with Jensen for a minute or two. Both in their boxers and still cold from the tub water.

  
“Hey, Jared,” Jensen mumbles.

  
Jared looks over and realizes he is far closer than he thought. Only a few inches from Jensen’s face, bright green eyes staring at him. “Yeah?”

  
“I think I love you too,” he says pushing his head forward and touching his lips to Jared’s once again.

  
Jared smiles bright and wide. He pulls the blanket over himself and lays facing Jensen, their feet come together and Jensen musters some of his strength and shifts a little closer to Jared so their hips and chest touch. Jared moves his arm over Jensen’s side and Jensen grins sleepily. They fall asleep tangled up in each other.


End file.
